How Fifty Shades' Anastasia Steele Is Just Like The Little Mermaid

According to Amber Petty, who plays Ana in the parody '50 Shades! The Musical.'

FameFlynet/Disney

By
Alyssa Bailey

Apr 18, 2014

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As Off-Broadway's Anastasia Steele, actress Amber Petty sings about filling holes inside of her on a nightly basis. But the Upright Citizens Brigade-trained comedian, who stars in 50 Shades! The Musical, gets into character with the help of a much purer source: Disney. "Singing 'Part of Your World' from The Little Mermaid, just to have that very energetic, young Disney kind of quality, helps me get in the right space for the show," she told Cosmopolitan.com. The actress talked about Ana's total Ariel resemblance, what is and isn't feminist about Fifty Shades of Grey, and the advice she has for Dakota Johnson, who's playing Ana in the upcoming Fifty Shades movie.

The play's a satire. Going in, were the writers really big fans of the book or were they more like, "This is something that's ripe for parody"?The original idea did kind of come from, "This is just such an insane phenomenon, and it seems like it would be a good match for our comic sensibilities." But then as soon as the idea was broached, everybody read the book and became familiar with it. We did want to make sure we weren't just picking on the book or taking the most obvious ideas from it. We wanted to make it satisfying for fans.

What were your impressions reading it?[It] was a lot different than I thought it would be because I was thinking, It's a bunch of sex scenes in a row. But they don't have sex at all for about 120 pages — that was surprising! And there weren't as many S&M; things as I expected. Some of the sexual things like Ben Wa balls and the tampon moments were much more graphic than I imagined. So it was both less sexy and more graphic than I thought it was going to be.

What did you think of Ana?First of all, I'm glad I read all of the books because Ana is very indecisive and very naïve [in the first book], for sure. You just see all the weaker sides to her. Then as they go along, she starts to find herself a little bit more and she becomes comfortable with the choices she makes. So, overall, I really don't think she's weak or stupid, I think she's innocent at first and certainly naïve. But she's also a 21-year-old girl, and how many of us were super aware and strong-willed and decisive when a troubling question came along? She's a very normal girl and, by the end, I like the strength that she found.

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And what did you think of Christian Grey — was he super sexy or a total dick?He had moments of being very sexy and then moments where I was like, "This guy is straight up awful." There are some times when he was controlling outside of the bedroom that I legitimately don't like in the books. Like, he purposely gives her hickies all over her body so she can't wear a revealing bikini on their honeymoon [and] he influences where she works. But then there are other parts where he's a little more understanding and strong but without being as manipulatively controlling.

Carol Rosegg

[Amber Petty, center]

How did you prepare to play Ana?Reading the books was really big to me because [the show] is a parody, and we poke fun at something, but we're also honoring the book. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just drawing my own conclusions out of nothing. And to get into character [each night] now is easier, I've done it a lot of times. Honestly, singing "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, just to have that very energetic, young Disney kind of quality, helps me get in the right space for the show.

Really? So if Ana was a Disney princess, which one would she be most like?Well, right now with my wig, she looks most like Belle. But I think Ariel is the closest because [Ana] has a glimpse of what this world of being in love and finding someone is like, just like Ariel has a glimpse of what the outside world is like, but she doesn't really know anything about it yet and has to change herself a lot to get into that world. So to be part of Christian's world, [Ana] does have to change a great deal like Ariel has to gain legs to become a human. Anyone watching the show might disagree and think, "This is nothing like Disney at all, you're a weirdo," but in a way that's how I think of it. We're playing up her innocence so that it's even more comical when we get into these Red Room situations.

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Looking at the movie casting, how do you feel about who they put in these roles, particularly Dakota Johnson as Ana?I honestly think it seems fine, especially her. I haven't seen her in a lot of things, but I've only heard really good things about it. It seems like she's got a good head on her shoulders to be innocent but not whiny, and to be in love and be questioning. It's a little bit of a harder part than you might think it to be. And then Jamie Dornan, I mean, he seems hot enough for me, but I think I'm easier to please than some Fifty Shades fans.

So having a little hint of playing Ana, what advice would you give Dakota?Oh my god! I'm sure she wants it, and I'm sure I'm the top of her list! But even from — this may sound silly, but even from pictures I see, it seems like she does a really good job of seeming genuine, that she's genuinely innocent, genuinely falls for a guy — just keeping that very realistic part of a girl who all girls can sympathize with. I'm going to say maintaining that as much as possible, which it seems like is exactly what's she's done.

And have you had any interaction with any of the movie cast or the author?No — well, the author is aware of our show. She hasn't seen it. We'd happily have her see it if she was in America anytime soon, in New York.

You know, this book can be seen as somewhat degrading to women. Do you think E.L. James, the author, got anything right about female empowerment?I don't know that her aim was for female empowerment, but I also don't think her aim was to degrade women, either. I think her aim was just,"Here's a story I think would be hot. I feel like writing it. Here you go." The empowering parts are that women of all ages [are] openly talking to us about sexual things afterward. [It's] opening up the realm of accepted sexuality, for not just young women but for older women. Now, having a man just control you in your everyday life, which sometimes happens in the book, that's less empowering. But I don't think it's degrading. It's just another thing that happens. You can look at any book or movie and find something that's degrading about one character or another, and some things positive about it. So I feel there's good and bad aspects of it, and you just take what you want from it as a fan.

So you started at UCB, career-wise. Have you had any star run-ins from that? Have you ever met Amy Poehler [who is still involved with the organization], for example?I've met Amy Poehler — she for sure would not know who I am, but she did tell me to go clean the hallway — in a very nice way — because I was an intern. So I have interacted with her. I've met Jack McBrayer a few times and then Robin Williams actually came to UCB one day when my team was performing. He just came by, was like, "Would it be possible for me to sit in with any of the shows?" And we were like, "Well, we are doing a specific improv forum tonight," so I've performed with my team and Robin Williams one night totally at random, so that was pretty wonderful. That's definitely my biggest run-in, for sure.

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Wow! Well, that's about it here, but as a fun closer, what's your real-life Christian Grey like?Well, I am married, and my husband is nothing like Christian Grey in the books, but he is definitely my ideal and that is being a nice, wonderful, supportive person who will then unexpectedly do the dishes sometimes. That is honestly my ideal Christian Grey.